'Pardon me again, Miss Wick, but there must be occasions, I should think, when you would feel your--ah--comparative isolation'--and Mr. Pink let one of his grey whiskers run through his long, thin hand. 'Very seldom,' I said; 'there is so much to see in London, Mr. Pink. Even the store-windows are entertaining to a stranger'--and I wondered more than ever what was coming. 'I see--I see. You make little expeditions to various points of interest--the Zoological Gardens, the Crystal Palace, and so forth.' It began to be like the dialogues in the old-fashioned reading-books, carefully marked I 'Q.' and 'A.' 'Yes,' I said, 'I do. I haven't seen the Zoo yet, but I've seen Mrs. Por------'; there I stopped, knowing that Mr. Pink could not be expected to perceive the sequence of my ideas. But he seemed to conclude that he had ascertained as much as was necessary. 'I think, Miss Wick,' he said, 'we must come to the point at once. You have not been in England long, and you may or may not be aware of the extreme difficulty which attaches--er--to obtaining--that is to say, which Amer--foreigners find in obtaining anything like a correct idea of--of social institutions here. To a person, I may say, without excellent introductions, it is, generally speaking, impossible.' I said I had heard of this difficulty. 'I do not know whether you, personally, have any curiosity upon this point, but----' I hastened to say that I had a great deal. 'But I should say that it was probable. There are few persons of your intelligence, Miss Wick, I venture to hazard, by whom a knowledge of English society, gained upon what might be termed a footing of intimacy, would fail to be appreciated.' I bowed. It was flattering to be thought intelligent by Mr. Pink. 'The question now resolves itself, to come, as I have said, straight to the point, Miss Wick, into whether you would or would not care to take steps to secure it.' 'That would depend, I should think, upon the nature of the steps, Mr. Pink. I may as well ask you immediately whether they have anything to do with Miss Purkiss.' 'Nothing whatever--nothing whatever!' Mr. Pink hastened to assure me. 'I do not know the lady. The steps which have recommended themselves to me for you would be taken upon a--upon a basis of mutual accommodation, Miss Wick, involving remuneration, of course, upon your side.' 'Oh!' said I, comprehendingly. 'And in connection with a client of our own--an old, and, I may say, a highly-esteemed'--and Mr. Pink made a little respectful forward inclination of his neck--'client of our own.' I left the burden of explanation wholly to Mr. Pink, contenting myself with looking amiable and encouraging. 'A widow of Lord Bandobust,' said Mr. Pink, with an eye to the effect of this statement. The effect was bad--I could not help wondering how many Lord Bandobust had, and said, 'Really!' with an effort to conceal it.